Could inhibiting the hunger hormone, ghrelin, successfully reduce the desire to overeat? Professor Tess van der Merwe believes this to be premature in the light of current scientific evidence.
There is a saying: “We should not believe everything we read”, and there is good reason for it. The internet might have become the information portal of the 21st century, but what it provides in content does not always equate to absolute accuracy and fact.
Marketers are quick to create buzzwords and phrases to capture audience attention, and the medical arena remains no different. One of the latest is all about a hormone called ghrelin, which is found in the stomach. In very simplistic terms, this hormone delivers signals to the pituitary gland and, in turn, the brain that we are hungry and should eat.
Weighing in
There have been recent reports about a non-invasive medical procedure that is designed to minimise ghrelin’s signals to the brain, thereby reducing hunger and ultimately resulting in weight loss. They speak of real-life cases, discussing success rate and actual results.
However, from a scientific basis this is far from the truth. In fact, according to Professor Van der Merwe, CEO of Centres of Excellence for Metabolic Medicine and Surgery and Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria, this procedure is still in its early research phases and cannot be performed on a large scale until the trials are completed and outcome data analysed. This could take several years.
Denne historien er fra Autumn 2017 - Issue 21-utgaven av A2 Aesthetic and Anti-Ageing Magazine.
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Denne historien er fra Autumn 2017 - Issue 21-utgaven av A2 Aesthetic and Anti-Ageing Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
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